The Associated Press
PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia: Thai and Cambodian field commanders worked Saturday to strengthen a fragile truce following a deadly gunbattle between their soldiers stationed on the border.
The commanders, Cambodian Maj. Gen. Srey Doek and Thai Col. Chayan Huaysoongnern, conducted a joint inspection of their troops, ate lunch together and discussed how to prevent future flare-ups of violence in disputed territory near an 11th century temple.
Fighting between the two sides Wednesday killed two Cambodian soldiers and led to fears of war between the neighbors.
"We would like to see stability restored as it was before the clash and promote friendship between the two countries," Srey Doek told Chayan as they sat at a bamboo table erected in the jungle.
Chayan nodded, smiled and said "yes."
As they talked, dozens of their soldiers in full combat gear stood near them.
Cambodia's prime minister on Friday downplayed Wednesday's clash and urged further negotiations to prevent the dispute from again turning violent.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, Hun Sen described the battle as "a minor armed clash."
"We can still talk to each other and are not yet enemies unwilling to talk to each other at all," Hun Sen said.
The fighting was the latest flare-up in a decades-old dispute over a stretch of jungle near the Preah Vihear temple. The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.
Analysts say the conflict has been fueled by domestic concerns in the two countries.
In Thailand, resurgent nationalism, promoted by a protest group seeking to topple the government, has put authorities in Bangkok under political pressure to aggressively pursue claims to the land.
Cambodia has historically felt marginalized and abused by its more powerful neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam. The dispute allows Hun Sen to portray himself as an aggressive defender of Cambodia's national rights, said Milton Osborne, an Australian historian specializing in Southeast Asia.
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Associated Press writers Ker Munthit in Phnom Penh and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.
The commanders, Cambodian Maj. Gen. Srey Doek and Thai Col. Chayan Huaysoongnern, conducted a joint inspection of their troops, ate lunch together and discussed how to prevent future flare-ups of violence in disputed territory near an 11th century temple.
Fighting between the two sides Wednesday killed two Cambodian soldiers and led to fears of war between the neighbors.
"We would like to see stability restored as it was before the clash and promote friendship between the two countries," Srey Doek told Chayan as they sat at a bamboo table erected in the jungle.
Chayan nodded, smiled and said "yes."
As they talked, dozens of their soldiers in full combat gear stood near them.
Cambodia's prime minister on Friday downplayed Wednesday's clash and urged further negotiations to prevent the dispute from again turning violent.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, Hun Sen described the battle as "a minor armed clash."
"We can still talk to each other and are not yet enemies unwilling to talk to each other at all," Hun Sen said.
The fighting was the latest flare-up in a decades-old dispute over a stretch of jungle near the Preah Vihear temple. The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.
Analysts say the conflict has been fueled by domestic concerns in the two countries.
In Thailand, resurgent nationalism, promoted by a protest group seeking to topple the government, has put authorities in Bangkok under political pressure to aggressively pursue claims to the land.
Cambodia has historically felt marginalized and abused by its more powerful neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam. The dispute allows Hun Sen to portray himself as an aggressive defender of Cambodia's national rights, said Milton Osborne, an Australian historian specializing in Southeast Asia.
___
Associated Press writers Ker Munthit in Phnom Penh and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.
1 comment:
My personal feeling is that in order to avoid another coup by top military officiers, the current Thai government needs to make the border clash happen at any cost. So, the Thai public would focus more on border clash than the coup itself. It will bring a bad image to the coup planners if they wish to go while border stand off still continues. It would make thing complicated for coup planners to mobilize the troops for the coup. The public would punish them. That's why Thai PM needs to get closer to the local Thai commanders. PM won't prefer clash, but just a stand off and sometimes fighting because soldiers are human and their patiece is limited. It's a political game in Thai politics. The question is do Khmers want to play the game with them or do we really need to think about the territory? The latter is to have international mediation, but Thai government won't choose it at least until the threat from coup planners is over.
Whether Khmer government wants to play the game with them or not, lives of Khmer soldiers need to be protected and treated fairly.
If a large scale conflict happens, Thais would be united, and the military will take the government completely. Somchai never wants this to happen either. It's a tough situation there. If coup fails, there is a high risk for the coup planners and those behind them.
In my opinion, Khmers should not involve with their game for the best interest of the nation. Thais ALWAYS get advantages while we were in troubles. Why not we? We should focus more on economic development and leave the works to the international communities because we have law and peace accord. Just like Singapore, the more we have strong economics and humand resources, no one would touch us. Hun Sen should really think about this.
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